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All-day walk from Mas Reynal, including a steep ascent

This is a hard but interesting walk, from Mas Reynal on the Guilhaumard plateau down the Sorgues valley, passing the résurgence of the river and La Mouline (below Cornus), then returning by the GR through St Rome de Berlières, a total of about 15km.

About 80% of this walk is gently downhill, mostly on stony paths and tracks, but some on quiet roads. That indicates that all the uphill sections, rising over 400m in total, are very steep. Most of the climb is in one short section, of less that a kilometer, when we follow a route straight up the escarpment of the plateau. This is on a proper path, part of the Grand Randonnée, but it is consistently steep and some of it is not in good condition (after the storms of 2015), so it is hard work, requiring good shoes and stamina.

Some of the walk is wooded, but most is open, so come well prepared in hot weather, with a hat, sun cream and plenty of fluids. And bring a picnic for a lunch stop (after the climb). The walk takes about 5 and a half hours, depending on walking speed and duration of stops. The steep ascent takes 40 minutes if you don’t stop.

This week’s walk starts just above the village of Les Vailhés on the shore of Lac Salagou. We walk up to the itinéraire équestre and follow that until it reaches the itinéraire VTT which we then walk along back to Les Vailhés. This walk is a bit steep at the start but thanks to a generous zigzag is quite easy to walk as are the other tracks. The views over the Lac are superb.

The walk is about 5.5 km. and the map is IGN 2643OT Lodeve.

Meeting as usual at Luteva at 9.50 or if you want to go directly to the start 9.30 at Les Vailhés.

NB The weather forecast is not good so please check this site before you leave in case the walk has to be cancelled. I shall post before 9.30 am.

This is a lovely walk to the west of Nebian. We shall meet in the village parking place and then walk up onto the plateau where there are tremendous views of the surrounding countryside. This is a round walk we have done before and is one of my favourites. The first part outside the village is a bit steep but previous walkers have not found it too difficult.

We shall meet as usual outside Luteva at 9.50 or, if you prefer, at the parking place in Nebian at 10.30.

The walk started at the parking beside the cemetery in Castelnau-de-Guers. The weather was good and not too windy. It was a delightful walk with a lot of variety in the country side including forests, vineyards and open fields. We had spectacular views over the valley to Pezenas and beyond.

Almond trees still beautifully in blossom.

After a few kilometers we passed the ruins of the l’Hermitage Saint-Antoine and its chapel.

All in all it was an easy walk, with only a short moderate climb at the end of the 10 kilometers’ walk and a few rocky patches earlier on.

A record 22 people came on this walk; some old friends, some new, some people who are only here part of the time. We appreciated the shady parts of the walk as the sun was hot. We started off from a spectacular viewpoint above Soumont, with views over Lac du Salagou.

We made our way along a shady path,
then along a section on the road with views towards the sea, and down to the Abbé of St Michel de Grandmont, passing by the side of their deer park. We didn’t have time to visit but those who wanted to can return at a later date.

Before rejoining our original path, we walked along a ridge which is used for climbing and bouldering.

Several questions on this walk. How did the boat get to the top of the hill? What happened to Hugo, the new dog? (We found him back at the cars at the start of the walk).

This walk was a variant of one that we had done before, around the Cantercel area of the plateau above La Vacquerie. We didn’t go around the experimental archaeological site at Cantercel as we had been that way before and were more interested in wild flowers.

Distance: 6 km, gently uphill for most of the first half, climbing about 150m.

Enjoyable walk but very hot for the first part, a long ascent of about 140 m up to the summit of the Caroux. After this, fairly level through some marshland (with walkways) and pine forests, joining the G7 which leads to the edge of the cliff overlooking the valley where you can see the confluence of the Orb and the Jaur. There is a Table d’Orientation here and the views are stunning. Finally a short sharp descent through some beech forest and back down to Douch.